3.3. Animal Decontamination

A chemical incident could harm livestock, companion animals (pets) and service animals. Removing external contamination is the first priority so that an animal does not contaminate itself, other animals, humans, or the environment. Best practices for animal decontamination have been outlined by the National Alliance of State Animal and Agricultural Emergency Programs (NASAAEP). Where possible, the veterinary community may employ isolation and/or decontamination measures similar to those used in human populations. In many cases, destruction and safe disposal of contaminated livestock may be economically preferable to decontamination and serve to reassure consumers that contaminated products would not enter the food supply.

Considerations for scalability should be included in planning as catastrophic scenarios could necessitate the decontamination of hundreds to thousands of pets and other animals.

Decontamination of wildlife is especially challenging and is likely to involve interagency cooperation and trained professionals. Wildlife cleanup is expensive, time-consuming, and often unsuccessful. Many species are too difficult to capture, and for some, the stress of captivity during decontamination may itself be harmful.